“My name is Shelley and I blog from Houston Texas where I have given up my northern upbringing and become a full-fledged Texan. I play the piano, I swim, I love to be outdoors, I am a proud Texas A&M Aggie, I have two kids and an awesome husband, and I have fibromyalgia.

My fibromyalgia journey began three years ago after my son was born when I noticed that I was feeling really tired.. My pregnancy with him had been very difficult, I was so sick I nearly died. So when I felt really terrible after he was born I didn’t think anything about it. When he was two months old my hands went numb, and I ignored it. Shortly after that my hands started to swell and hurt. I couldn’t do up buttons, open jars, anything that required dexterity. Then my neck started hurting so I finally went to a doctor. I was told it was probably my thyroid, but when the doctor ran the standard tests, they all came back negative for thyroid problems, rheumatoid arthritis etc.

I spent the next year and a half going from doctor to doctor while my symptoms kept getting worse. The pain moved to my knees, arms, and shoulders. I was in so much pain I could barely move. My knees were so swollen I could hardly walk, but every doctor I saw swore it wasn’t arthritis It was really difficult to be a mother of a newborn and a three year old and be totally incapacitated. Nobody could understand what was wrong with me and why I couldn’t just get over it. I looked perfectly fine on the outside even though my body was falling apart.

I was ready to give up, but my husband forced me to go see a rheumatologist. Again, all my labs came back fine, so she diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I fought the diagnosis for a long time, I just couldn’t believe that I would be sick for the rest of my life. I couldn’t believe that someone as young as I am could be this sick permanently.

Then my sister in law told me about a Fibromyalgia/CFS doctor that was really good. The doctor thought I had fibro but thought I should be tested for Lyme disease just in case. I was shocked when I got a positive Lyme test and diagnosis of Lyme, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Most likely the Lyme disease that went undiagnosed for so long caused me to have fibromyalgia and CFS. I have slowly learned to accept the fact that I will never be “normal” again.

I started blogging at the beginning of my journey as a way to vent my feelings and because I couldn’t find a lot of information about chronic illness and motherhood. There was no one to give me advice on how to many little kids with no energy and tons of pain. I felt like I was completely alone and no one could understand. Along the way I found the awesome fibro community and connected with other people dealing with the same things I have. I continue to blog so that I can give and receive support from the chronic illness community.”